2007 AIA Michigan Design Honor Award

S. T. Dana Building
School of Natural Resources & Environment
Ann Arbor, Michigan

Jury Comment:
Thoroughly researched and highly innovative use of sustainable strategies with a clear design aesthetic that successfully integrates them into a historic structure"

Project Description:

THE GREENING OF DANA

“The Greening of Dana” is a fully re-cycled and renewed building. This project is a demonstration of preservation and maximized sustainability in the context of a comprehensive interior re-development that respects the building’s historic spatial plan.

The S.T. Dana Building’s occupant is the School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE), whose central educational mission is to increase understanding of natural systems and of how humanity can live sustainably on the planet. Funded through State of Michigan appropriations, the Greening of Dana project reflects the State’s commitment to sustainability and continued investment in natural resources and environment education at the University of Michigan.

Phase I involved construction of a new fifth floor with a skylight and framed hip roof over the courtyard, adding over 20,000 square feet to the building. Phase II involved interior rehabilitation of the entire structure that incorporated as many green features as feasible and that retained the building’s character-defining features.

“The Greening of Dana” showcases the use of state-of-the-art sustainable design practices, materials, and technologies and provides a model for the University and for the state of integrated green and preservation practices in the modernization of a historic building.

The project was the first LEED-certified building at the University of Michigan. At the time of certification it was one of only two Gold LEED-rated major renovation projects at a US college or university.

“The Greening of Dana” project represents a preimiere illustration of an institution’s commitment to the integration of preservation and sustainable design. As such, this project has received a 2005 Presidential Citation for Sustainable Design from the Washington, DC Chapter of AIA, a 2005 Merit Award from AIA Maryland, and is being featured in the American Institute of Architects upcoming book on the 150th Anniversary of AIA.

Design Challenge and Resolution

The project’s two overriding goals: 1) use green design principles to comprehensively modernize the building while preserving its historic integrity, and 2) demonstrate SNRE’s commitment to the environment by conducting the rehabilitation so that the building would be an ongoing laboratory for learning about sustainability.

The approach to meeting these ambitious goals in the Greening of Dana project is described on the following pages. Succinct text and captioned photographs and diagrams illustrate the project’s key design features. This material is organized around the US Green Building Council’s six sustainability categories:

Sustainable Site
Water Efficiency
Energy and Atmosphere
Materials and Resources
Indoor Environmental Quality
Innovation and Design Process.

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